General News of Sunday, 2 December 2018
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2018-12-02
Newsfile airs from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on Saturdays
This week’s edition of Newsfile on Joynews featured all prominent stories that came under the spotlight in the course of the week.
The country’s largest opposition party, NDC came under a barrage of attack after they announced a GHC400, 000 filing fee and a GHC20, 000 for picking a nomination form. Panellists on the show this week shared varied views and perspectives on the matter and provided insights into the possible repercussions for the party and policy matters.
Also discussed during the programme was the recent cases of power outages that have bedevilled the nation for the past weeks. Energy Minister in a series of media interviews assured the country of sustained power and blamed the situation on unforeseen technical hitches beyond their control. He subsequently took responsibility for it and stressed that the nation is far from returning to the dreaded days of ‘dumsor’. But regular guest on the show, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Junior suggested to that the current government has no excuse to fail Ghanaians on the issue of power generation and insisted that should such a thing as weeks or days of power outages occur again, the Minister, Peter Amewu ought to lose his job.
The attention of the host, Evans Mensah and guests for the show was focused on the issues arising from the creation of new regions. The Supreme Court in the course of the week dismissed a petition brought before it to interpret and declare as illegal the decision to restrict voting to only affected areas. Guests on the show urged the EC to expedite work on the election so the elections could take place without hitches. They also called on the Ministry for Regional Re-Integration to continue with the consultation among stakeholders to address any pending issues so as to forestall any friction that may arise.
The RTI Coalition also stepped up their advocacy and drive to get the RTI Bill passed before the end Parliament rises in December. The coalition argues it has been long overdue and that the country should have had one in place to ensure access to information. The issue, however, divided panellists as some were of the view that the RTI Coalition ought to be cautious with their actions and not stampede parliament in its work. The guests also noted that there are still outstanding issues with the RTI Bill in its current state that a rush to pass it may result in the essence of the Bill being defeated.
Watch a replay of this week’s edition of Newsfile as the team delve into all the matters that made the headlines.